Golf

Palladino: Scampolino aces same hole 56 years later BY JOE PALLADINO REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

East Mountain golfers celebrate a hole-in-one scored by Frank Scampolino Wednesday. It was the second ace of Scampolino's career, and they came 56 years apart. Pictured from the left are Skip Larrivee, Harry Christolini, East Mountain pro Dave Giacondino, Scampolino, Joe Veneziano, Gus Deimantas, Don Carasone, and Bob DiGiovanni. Christolini and Carasone witnessed the ace, which was scored on the 13th hole.
Photo contributed by Teri Robillard

One did, almost. It was Wednesday morning at East Mountain Golf Course when the 88-year-old Scampolino knocked a 5-iron shot into the cup at the 13th hole for his second hole-in-one in nearly 60 years of playing golf.

The first hole-in-one was 56 years ago, also at East Mountain, and also on the 13th hole, known to many golfers as the Gully Hole.

"I was playing from the white tees then," said the chipper Scampolino, "and I hit a 4-iron."

That ball landed on the right side of the green and gently rolled off the steep bank straight into the hole.

Should anyone doubt the first ace, Scampolino said it was witnessed by his cousin, the late Frank Campagna, and by a parish priest, the late Rev. Charles Mullin of St. Francis Xavier in Waterbury.

"This time, the ball just went right in the hole," Scampolino said. It was witnessed by Dom Carasone and Harry Christolini.

"But the first person I thought of was Frank," he noted. "I figure he had something to do with it. I wish I had a priest there, though, like the last time."

An avid golfer, Scampolino said he first took up the game when he left military service. He worked for 42 years at CL&P and played every week in the company golf league. Now happily retired and still living in the house he built in Waterbury in 1953, where he has lived with his wife Louise for more than 60 years, he plays golf every morning at the Mountain with his core group of partners, like Carasone, Christolini and Joe Veneziano.

His golf game remains the same today as it was then. "I usually play bogey golf," he said.

But golf scores hardly matter to Scampolino. It is a game steeped in camaraderie, and that was draws him back every day.

"What I like best is meeting the guys," he said. "It is all about the people that you get to know. If you want to understand and learn about someone, play golf with them."

Golf, Scampolino said, reveals a person's character.

"When someone hits a bad shot, I like to see how they react," he said. "That shows you their temperament, everything."

Scampolino thanked East Mountain pro Dave Giacondino for hooking him up with his daily playing partners, and, of course, he thanks Louise: "She lets me play every morning. It's like going to work, only better."

Frank remembers every detail of a hole-in-one made more than a half-century ago. But when asked how long he has been married to Louise, there was a pause. Then he put the phone down and shouted, "How long have we been married?"

Frank and Louise seem to have a rocky time with these aces. The first was scored during an evening round in 1957, played after work, when Louise was expecting the couple's first child. "And she wasn't too happy that I was out playing golf when she was due any day," Scampolino explained. "She was peeved at me. I got the hole-in-one and I was dying to tell her when I got home, but she wasn't happy with me."

Louise heard out about the shot only when her aunt called with the news.

"So when I got home Wednesday," Scampolino related, "I walked in the door and asked, 'Did your aunt call?' Her aunt is deceased, of course. Louise said, 'Are you crazy?' I told her, 'I got another hole-in-one.'"

Frank Scampolino is in the doghouse again with Louise. He is every time he scores a hole-in-one, even when they happen 56 years apart.

" This man is amazing he so proud of this hole in one.He told you when he got of the Army he started playing golf.He never talks about the FIVE battle stars he received in World War II that i'm so proud of.But he is going to love talking about this Hole in one.This is true example of the Great Generation. i'm also very proud to be his son "

" This man is amazing he so proud of this hole in one.He told you when he got of the Army he started playing golf.He never talks about the FIVE battle stars he received in World War II that i'm so proud of.But he is going to love talking about this Hole in one.This is true example of the Great Generation. i'm also very proud to be his son "

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